As Sam notes in the intro, the book was autobiographical, a journal of his tattoo life with "no intention to retell old stories, to perpetuate myths or errors, to upgrade the 'art' of tattooing, nor to make more dense the fog of the mystique around it."

It does talk about the characters he tattooed, the politics between tattooers, and sex. Lots of it. He says, "...in one way or another, more than three quarters of the tattoos applied were put on because of some aspect of sexual motivation." No wonder sex researcher Dr. Alfred Kinsey took such an interest in it.

The book is by biographer Justin Spring, whom the NY Times says had "no idea what this sexual outlaw and little-known literary figure had left behind after his death in 1993" when Spring finally tracked down the executor of Steward's estate. The NY Times adds:

Ultimately Steward abandoned university life and entered the tattoo
artist's demimonde full time, but his determination to indulge his
sexual identity fully came with enormous physical, professional and
psychological costs. In Mr. Spring's telling, the frustrations of living
in this closeted era combined with his obsession drove Steward to
alcoholism and prevented him from living up to the early promise he
showed as a novelist. He suffered through long periods of dark
depression, loneliness and self-destructive behavior. Dangerously
violent characters and sex fascinated Steward, and his overtures and
adventures frequently landed him in the hospital.

"He paid the price for being himself," Mr. Spring said, "but at least he got to be himself."